Cooling front brakes
Any ideas or devices on how to help front disc brakes keep cooler.
Forum Discussion
Let me take a different approach to "what is the correct gear" for descending a grade.
The correct gear is that that KEEPS YOU SPEED IN EQUILIBRIUM-- you are neither speeding up nor slowing down without using your service brakes. If you have a diesel, the same thing applies, but you have both gear AND an exhaust or engine brake to assist.
Even if the road is dead straight for the next 10 miles, the equilibrium speed may be 15 MPH. The heavier the vehicle and the less the braking HP the slower it will be.
We were coming down a very steep 17% grade in the White Mountains. I was in second gear with the exhaust brake on at equilibrium speed--- just over 20 MPH. Dianne was worried that we were going too slowly. Well, around the next corner we came up (very quickly) on a logging truck happily doing his equilibrium speed of about 7 MPH. Blasted by him.
If you have to use the service brakes, get on them firmly enough and long enough to allow you to drop another gear.
And, brake maintenance is critical. If hydraulic brakes (gas or diesel) the brake fluid should be changed every 2-3 years. Brake fluid absorbs moisture to keep the iron parts of the system from rusting. As brake fluid absorbs water, its boiling point goes from around 500 degrees F to 284 degrees F-- BIG DIFFERENCE. Under hard braking, it is easy for brake fluid temperature to exceed 284 degrees F. If that happens, the fluid boils and YOU LOOSE YOUR BRAKES until the fluid temperature allows it to return to a liquid state.
With disk brakes, the caliper slides must be lubricated, or they tend to hang up. This quickly overheats that brake and causes expensive damage.
Since the OP has not returned with specific chassis information, we can't really give more specific recommendations.
The correct gear is that that KEEPS YOU SPEED IN EQUILIBRIUM-- you are neither speeding up nor slowing down without using your service brakes. If you have a diesel, the same thing applies, but you have both gear AND an exhaust or engine brake to assist.
Even if the road is dead straight for the next 10 miles, the equilibrium speed may be 15 MPH. The heavier the vehicle and the less the braking HP the slower it will be.
We were coming down a very steep 17% grade in the White Mountains. I was in second gear with the exhaust brake on at equilibrium speed--- just over 20 MPH. Dianne was worried that we were going too slowly. Well, around the next corner we came up (very quickly) on a logging truck happily doing his equilibrium speed of about 7 MPH. Blasted by him.
If you have to use the service brakes, get on them firmly enough and long enough to allow you to drop another gear.
And, brake maintenance is critical. If hydraulic brakes (gas or diesel) the brake fluid should be changed every 2-3 years. Brake fluid absorbs moisture to keep the iron parts of the system from rusting. As brake fluid absorbs water, its boiling point goes from around 500 degrees F to 284 degrees F-- BIG DIFFERENCE. Under hard braking, it is easy for brake fluid temperature to exceed 284 degrees F. If that happens, the fluid boils and YOU LOOSE YOUR BRAKES until the fluid temperature allows it to return to a liquid state.
With disk brakes, the caliper slides must be lubricated, or they tend to hang up. This quickly overheats that brake and causes expensive damage.
Since the OP has not returned with specific chassis information, we can't really give more specific recommendations.
